Looking Down on the Past
by Red-san
Summary: Yahiko stumbled upon Kenshin in the forest, saying he has something troubling his mind but he won't tell. On the way back to the dojo, Yahiko confronts Kaoru on Kenshin's strange behavior and Sano gets mixed into this as well. What's wrong with Kenshin?
1. Wondering on Troubles

Red-san: Story about my all time favorite show and character, Kenshin Himura! YAY! *blows the kazoo * Tee-hee… ^-^//

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of it's characters. *sniff * Sadly enough… *hugs a Kenshin Himura doll *

CHAPTER 1~

Walking through the forest, Yahiko was humming to an unfamiliar tune he had thought up in his head (A.N.: ^-^ "Heart of Sword" people! The ending theme song.) when he stumbled upon a red figure in the distance. He knew right away what it was, but he felt like sneaking upon it anyway. 

            Inching closer toward the object, moving aside all branches in his way, Yahiko starts to come to a crouch. A few yards away, he kneels on the hard dirt ground behind little shrubbery.

            The red that he is spying on is no other than a person. Sitting at the foot of a pond, the man turns his head toward Yahiko. He greets him with a smile.

            "Why hello Yahiko. What are you doing here?"

            "Oh," Yahiko revealed himself from the green, "Just wandering around…"

            "You shouldn't be wandering in these forests, they aren't safe…"

            "Then what are you doing here Kenshin?" Yahiko sat down next to Kenshin and folded his legs. Kenshin gave a sigh and smiled once more.

            "I'm just resting here, thinking about whatnot." Kenshin returned his cheerful stare toward his reflection that was the pond. Yahiko fell backward onto his back and lay his head on his arms.

            "Thinking about what?"

            "Things you wouldn't understand…" Kenshin's voice turned now from a happy tone to a less soothing talk. Yahiko blinked and looked at Kenshin through the corner of his eye. He didn't appear upset but worried, his eyes shown less shine. Yahiko dared to open up his mouth to speak; he didn't think it would be so serious…

            "Try me then…"

            "No Yahiko, it's something that I should know alone. Besides…" he looked at the curious boy with a big smile, "It's nothing to worry about." But yet Yahiko still wanted to hear a reason. 

            "C'mon Kenshin! I want to hear a real reason from you!"

            "It will come in time…" Kenshin stood up and slowly started walking the way Yahiko came. Yahiko raised his head from the moist grass he was laying on, hands at his sides. Thinking it best he follows Kenshin back out of the forest, yet leaving him alone, not mentioning a single word on the subject they had been on.

            As they reached the dojo, Kenshin greeted Miss Kaoru with a smile and sat down outside to do a bit of cooking. Miss Kaoru didn't sense any sadness or worry in Kenshin, but Yahiko would be the one to stop that.

            "Kaoru," Yahiko started in a hushed whisper, "Could I speak to you for a moment? I think there is something wrong with Kenshin…"

            "Oh?" Miss Kaoru blinked. Not in a worried way but in a way to hear more. She and Yahiko walked off into the dojo and closed the doors and walked to the farthest corner, away from Kenshin's hearing, "What's the matter with him?"

            "Well, he hasn't said anything yet," Yahiko replied in his usual voice, still a bit hushed, "But he has something troubling him in his mind."

            "Is that so? Do you know what?" this is when Miss Kaoru showed a bit of worry in her voice. She crouched down a little, to be eye level with Yahiko.

            "No, he hasn't told me…"

            "Well," Miss Kaoru stood up straight, hands on her hips and said loudly, "I shall confront him right now!" Taking a few steps forward, she marched off toward the door, only to be knocked onto her butt by Yahiko, "What are you doing?"

            "Don't tell him I told you! I don't think he wants anyone to know…"

            "Well, sorry for that reason. Now get off!"

            At that moment the door to the dojo opened. Yahiko and Miss Kaoru looked toward it to see who was entering the room. There stood Sanosuke, smiling with pleasure. Although that smile quickly faded away when he saw the sight of Yahiko on Miss Kaoru. 

             "Um…" he started a bit startled, "Am I interrupting something?"

Red-san: And that's all for Chapter one! *giggles* Yeah, you're gonna have to figure out what's gonna happen next with Kenshin and his problem, and what is he thinking about exactly? * gets hit with a rock* Oy! Oh yeah, huh? The title… _O

Made some grammar changes! There! Now please no flaming on how I spell their names and such… this is my first RK fan fic EVER. *nods* 


	2. Starting to Talk

Red-san: Next chapter that will answer half of what Kenshin is thinking off. Yes, I said half… you'll see what I mean. ^_~ Enjoy! *hands you many cookies to munch on while reading *

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Rurouni Kenshin's characters. All of them are © Watsuki Nobuhiro. Still very sad… *sniff, sniff * 

Chapter 2~

The inside of the dojo appeared quiet. When the smallest inside found his voice, he ran forward, "Close the door Sano!" Sanosuke stood confused. He watched as Yahiko ran little past him and closed the door to the dojo quickly, yet quietly. He cleared his throat, "Hey, if you guys need some alone time I can just leave - "

            "NO!" Miss Kaoru stood up marching toward him, annoyed and frustrated, "It's not what you think! Yahiko was just telling me about how Kenshin has been acting odd lately."

            "Kenshin? Odd?" Sanosuke looked down at her confused and dumbstruck as he usually was with a new subject, "No, not Kenshin… he's not the weird sort."

            "Are you sure?" Yahiko opened the dojo door very slightly, just peeking at Kenshin, sitting in front of the cooking pot. Sanosuke turned around and peeked through the crack as well. 

            In front of the door sat an emotionless man. He stared down into the boiling water with no sign of happiness, sadness, pain or joy. His eyes were empty, he had no straight smile, nor frown. He looked very content, as if thinking very hard.

            "So what? He's thinking!" Sanosuke turned away from the door. Yahiko closed it and looked up at the disbelieving man in front of him, "But he's troubled Sano."

            "What do you expect us to do?" Sanosuke looked down at the small boy. The room went silent for a moment. Miss Kaoru and Yahiko both stared at Sanosuke with a pleading emotion. He shook his head with displeasure, "No way! I am not going to talk to him."

            "But you have to Sanosuke!" Miss Kaoru stood up and looked into his eyes, "You are the only one Kenshin likes to talk to when it comes to this sort of stuff!" She brought her hands up to her neck in fists, one holding another, "Please Sanosuke. Find out what's wrong with him." With a sigh, Sanosuke shifted his eyes from Miss Kaoru to Yahiko. The two looked just awful, as if something inside of them were eating their happiness away. Kenshin played a big role in all of their lives, if he felt sad or angered, the others felt worried or upset. You could probably say it was a side effect…

            Finally, Sano gave in and took a deep breath, "Fine, I'll go talk to Kenshin." Yahiko smiled and Miss Kaoru jumped up a little. Sanosuke looked at the two now joyful, "But…" The smiles on the two joyous ones now faded and showed a frown in progress. Yahiko's mouth lay a bit open, as Miss Kaoru's eyes grew dim. Sanosuke raised up a finger, "If he starts to get angry with me. It's all your fault." And he turned around and opened the door, exiting the dojo, leaving two very confused people behind. Yahiko and Miss Kaoru exchanged glances and quickly crawled toward the window, which Yahiko looked out before. 

            The two saw Sanosuke standing up behind an emotionless Kenshin.

            "So…" Sanosuke had started, sitting down beside Kenshin, "How've yah been? Haven't talked to you in a while. The last time we talked was…"

            "When you came back here from your little meandering…" Kenshin interrupted. He talked with a calm voice, yet it also had a cold feeling. Now Sanosuke knew what Yahiko was talking about. Although it was a bit odd he hadn't noticed this before…

            "Yeah." Sanosuke went along, "that's right. Um…" He was thinking of how to bring up a good conversation that would eventually lead to the answer he was looking for. Too bad he didn't have the chance…

            "Sano…" Kenshin started off. He remained to look at the cooking pot, which the water was boiling as if it were fresh lava and the vegetables and meat moving around roughly, "Have you ever thought that, you did something for a good reason. But, it turned out completely wrong?" At this moment, Kenshin was laying his chin against his hands, clasped together and brought upward against his knee. Sanosuke gave a short and light laugh. Was that it? That was all that was on Kenshin's mind?

            "Why, yeah." Sanosuke started, "That has happened to me before. This one time I was trying to help these old people out by cutting their wood right? - So that they wouldn't have to, and that I'd feel good about myself. When I started to cut the wood I found out that I accidentally cut one of the people's statues…" he gave off another small laugh, "It wasn't pretty after that." He smiled at the thought he might of made Kenshin feel better, but he hadn't. Kenshin was staring off into the rapid bubbling of the soup, a small frown on his face. His eyes weren't all the way open as if he were happy, as they usually were, but a bit in a squinting way, as if to find an answer from the water in front of him.

            Sanosuke frowned. He hadn't made Kenshin feel better at all, if anything he made him feel worse.

            "No Sano, I mean… have you hurt someone in order to protect some one else in the meaning of doing good, but in the end… making a huge mistake and hurting people for no reason at all?" This drove Sanosuke off track. What was he talking about? Kenshin never did a single bad thing for the entire time Sanosuke has known him! Unless…

            "Kenshin, this doesn't happen to be about your past now, does it?" Sanosuke lost his playful smile a while back while Kenshin had lost it for the time when Sanosuke sat down near him. Sanosuke just didn't know how to help Kenshin now. He was waiting for a reply.

            "Yes," Kenshin nodded his head, his read hair moving slightly in a graceful way, "Yes it does…"

Red-san: And that be all for this chapter as well! Oooh, thought what was troubling Kenshin was what the story line just said? Hm… then I'm guessing you're probably bored and don't want to read anymore. ;_; That's sad… because you don't know what's coming up now. ^_^" I am aware that I'm weird… *gets hit with a rock *

Oh, and BTW. THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE STORY. Sanosuke and Kenshin are just talking to each other as friends. Now, please! I'm not that type of person to match em up… please think about what you're going to say when you review a bit more carefully. Please?


	3. Nothing Gotten

Red-san: Writer's block has moved! XD Yes, sorry for the long wait. I hate it when nothing comes to mind. -_- Enjoy! Reviews please, otherwise I don't know if you want it to be continued or not.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Rurouni Kenshin's characters. All of them are © Watsuki Nobuhiro. But I am still an obsessy! *gets hit with a rock* 

            Sanosuke understood now. Kenshin was feeling awful about all of the things that he has done in the past. The slaying, injuring, killing if he must. But they were all for a good purpose. All right, Sanosuke understood what Kenshin meant but not for what time period he was talking about.

            "Kenshin? Are you talking about ever since I met you? Or before that…?" Kenshin stared deeper into the pot, the water now forming to bubbles and rising to the top of the pot, gushing off through the sides. (Kaoru: My new pot! *sobs, sobs*) The vegetables started to leak onto the floor, following the stream of bubbles. Kenshin must have been drifting off through space for he didn't pay attention to the pot.

            "Kenshin?" Sanosuke's eyes kept shifting from the pot to the top of Kenshin's head. Now feeling the steam touch Sanosuke's skin on his arm, Sanosuke winced a little, shook his arm and kicked the pot across the dirt (Kaoru: GAK! O_O). The fire had been extinguished for Sanosuke kicked some dirt upon that as well. Still no response from Kenshin…

            "Kenshin!" he repeated once more, "Kenshin! Did you hear me?" There was still no response from Kenshin. Sanosuke grew frustrated. He didn't care if Kenshin was being moody or had a problem, he couldn't stand it when people never answered his questions! "KENSHIN!" Sanosuke quickly put his hand on Kenshin's shoulder and turned him around with much force so that Kenshin's face was facing him and his hair went askew. Sanosuke dropped his sad emotion and saw the look of a depressed warrior in front of him. He had never seen one like it before.

            Kenshin's face was pale and the darkest tone in his face was the bags under his eyes and the tear that left a trailing mark of water down his face. It rolled down to the bottom of his cheek and dropped onto the dirt, making a small brown dot. Even though Sanosuke had not paid attention to when it hit the floor, he couldn't get the picture of Kenshin's face like that. He didn't understand why!

            "Kenshin!" Sanosuke shook his friend roughly, "What's wrong with you?" Kenshin's head bobbed this way and that as the shaking continued. But when Sanosuke had stopped, Kenshin looked up at him. His eyes were dilated. Another tear started to form. Kenshin closed his eyes and shook his head. He stood up quickly and marched off into the forest, back to where he was before. Sanosuke was left dumbstruck on the dirt, he yelled after Kenshin. He yelled at him telling him to come back. But all it did was make Kenshin run.

            "What did you do?!" Sanosuke looked over his shoulder and saw Yahiko and Kaoru running out. Yahiko fumed with anger and Kaoru sobbing over her pot. She kneeled down to it as Yahiko ran toward Sanosuke with clenched fists. Sanosuke didn't quite notice the anger in Yahiko's voice nor face. 

            "What do you mean what did I do-EHW!" Sanosuke was cut off for Yahiko had punched Sanosuke in the face, making it turn to the side quickly and turn red. Sanosuke rubbed his cheek, "What was that for?!" 

            "You drove Kenshin off! You weren't supposed to do that!" Yahiko yelled at him and was about to lay another blow but decided not to when he heard the cry of a female.

            "What happened to Kenshin?" It was Kaoru. She was standing looking down at the two, clutching her pot now having stains of dried bubbles and dents here and there. She had a worried look on her face and neither Sanosuke or Yahiko knew how to explain it in an easy way to her…

Red-san: That's all for this chapter. I'm sorry it's so short but writer's block is getting the best of me and might as well give you something while I got it, no? ^^; I promise the next one will be longer.


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